..not a creature was stirring, not even a, er tank...

usually I prefer to paint during the day with the natural light,

but being a night owl, I don't usually turn in until after 4ish, and I can just as easily be found daubing the canvas in the wee hours

this tank isn't making too much noise

even though it is travelling at speed in this painting (yeah, really - got lil bits of dirt being flung up in front of the tracks...)

it's nearly finished

sometimes it's best not to 'overpaint' a painting

recognize it? 

it's an M1 Abrams MBT, the Australian Army's main battle tank

so LOVE my military hardware big time!! love love love!!

surrounded by a litter of leverets....

uh-oh! they're all awake! that tank's not so quiet after all then

these pics are all aceo size - 2.5 x 3.5 inches

sorta tiny eh?

cute 'n' tiny

talkin' 'bout cute 'n' tiny - here's some REAL cute 'n' tiny -

totally adorable eh?

my dreams of Wesley are still continuing :)

I have his photo next to me and he looks 'so real' every time I look at him

I can smell him, and feel his fur, he looks ready to hop out and into my lap *sigh*

the hares I am painting are coming along

...at their own pace - as my paintings do

this one has dark rich brown lowlights now, and detail on the ears

- not ready to hop off the page yet

no fur in yet, nor whiskers

I'm still getting the 'feel' of the hare

watercolour dictates it's pace to me

not the other way around

anyway - leverets of another type have been born and have now left the nest

I made these 6 little chaps as a donation for Nowzad Dogs - the charity that helps stray dogs and the soldiers who adopt them, 

and I support them with every sale of a Drive Safe baby Army Hare

and this half a dozen will raise £90 for them

nice eh?

if you are a serving soldier in the coalition forces (British / America / Australian..) with a set of old cams and would love a free hare, plus 2 free hares going straight to Nowzad for fundraising then get in touch with me - my contact details are on that link above
(for EVERY set of Army cams sent to me I make 3 free hares as a thank you - 1 for the soldier and 2 for Nowzad - this is my way of showing my appreciation)

which one will look great in your wheels?

these wee hares are expert back seat drivers, and so willing to adorn your rear-view mirror

each hare is an original, and perfectly 'imperfect'

these ones are made from German Flecktarn cams and it was rather tough to turn out, so I made the ears 'open'

and why not? they look pretty neat I reckon

and like all those stray dogs in Afghanistan, and the soldiers on deployment there, they all have their 'scars' 

~ whether visible or not ~

so if you want to give one of these 6 hares a home, then just get in touch with Nowzad

£15 each and all money goes to the dogs....

....doggies like Anjali and her new litter 

she was rescued by German soldiers, 

so it's pretty good that I've got those hares made in flecktarn 

isn't she such a beautiful lady! soft and gentle and loving, and look at those tiny little puppies

omg! so adorable!

here's a close up of those imperfect ears

blue-eyed beauty...

purdy lil hare...

and one with fully sewn ears but still a bit tatty and with some fawn coloured bits like Anjali

always good to be so individual eh?

because nothing is perfect in this world 

anyway  *yaaaaaawwnn*

times' gettin' on

uh-oh!

someone is out for the count already!

and if the fur-ball at the front is not careful he will be tumbling out of bed and straight into the foody bowl :)

(I reckon he might be dreaming of rabbits eh?)

so here's a little something relaxing 

to listen to

with your bedtime cup of tea

50s pretty cool 

likin' him lots..

I reckon he'd love one of my little hares in his hot wheels

....anyway it's nearly 4am and time to stop stirring

drive safe with baby British Army hare

well, some really exciting news!

here is my first litter of leverets ~ born in British Army dpm cams!

and a few of them are now in the mail on their way to their forever homes!

em, I mean forever vehicles!

because they are 'drive safe' hares after all 

(opinionated little back seat drivers that dangle from your rear-view-mirror, keeping you right on the roads)

(these ones have a Scottish accent ofcourse :)

I think they are really, really very pretty!

the cams are ever so flattering eh?

and aren't they all so adorable standing to attention on parade? 

ingrained discipline because they came from real service cams that have seen time

and like the stray dogs that they help to raise funds for thru the charity Nowzad,

these little beasties also have scars and nicks and many imperfections

ofcourse that doesn't bother any of them in the slightest

they are just happy to find a loving home and a loving heart

with someone who will accept them exactly as they are

without requiring any changes

or imposing any conditions on them

okay, let's be serious here -

if this tiny lagomorph could breathe and eat 

then in reality 

you would find your curtains shredded to bits (as far up as their hind legs will let them stretch ~ and yes, my curtains are still in tatters from Wesley and Arabella), 

you would find your telephone cable snipped in two (yes, it will happen every single time you leave even 5mm of it exposed), 

your carpets will be 'dug' into and torn up... (yes, sigh, such is the lagomorph burrower), 

you would have your digestives stolen off your side plate in a nick and 

your shoelaces will be nibbled to bits, even the parts between the eyelets.. (yes, true, I have had to replace so many laces I considered wearing slip-ons (uh okay, just joking there..) )

so maybe you have room in your life for a non-breathing, non-eating leveret perhaps?

though non-eating and non-breathing does not mean non-alive,

cause seriously - get a look at that sparkly little blue eye, so full of personality and resolve and determination and...

and for every hare sold I donate approx 25% to Nowzad, around £4 / $6

to help homeless stray little fluffy things like those above

~ yeah ~ puppies!!

and for those stray puppies that have outgrown their fluffyness

but are still adorable none the less

my donations still help the stray dogs that the soldiers take in and 'adopt'

and the strays that 'adopt' themselves to a soldier, because that happens often too

and sometimes the soldiers take in those cute little bundles of pocket-sized fluffyness when they are out on patrol

it's a win-win situation 

and Nowzad reunite the strays, who have been adopted by the soldiers whilst on deployment, thru official means

and you have beautiful, loving outcomes for all involved

glad to be helping!

uh -oh! dissention in the ranks.....

here! have a little HAPPY :)

today in the gym I had the best ever laugh! it was totally so much fun and I laughed out loud so, so much! ha ha ha! totally loved it!

felt good! was nice to have so much fun, the gym boys are totally the best ever! (thanks boys :)

and last night I was smiling big time when I came across some Army Happy - 

check out these groovin' boys and girls from 4 SCOTS (4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland) having a wee break from their hard work in Afghanistan (that first dancer, wow! he's a mover!)

they sure know how to work it good, would love to share the dance floor with these smooth movers that's for sure! I would be smiling big time :)

and omg! I'm so loving the doggie dancing - that has to be the best ever!!

well I have some Happy news - I'm all sold out of my Army drive safe baby hares made from my Aussie cams that are supporting Nowzad! 
yay!

and that means that Nowzad has received a total of £112 in donations from me, ~and my wonderful customers!

and the funds are helping them look after the strays that they find and the strays that the soldiers adopt and take into their hearts and homes - now isn't that a beautiful piece of happy?

this basket of motherless strays were only 1 week old when Nowzad found them

but now, 3 weeks later they are fat and loved and will have homes very soon.

and omg! my heart melted when I saw that little fat ball at the front, looking up at me.... and you know what - he came into the world about 2 weeks after Wesley left....

(yeah, I'm sorta lookin' for my Wesley, ~ well, my heart is looking)

my very last batch of hares were made from the smallest scraps I had left

I even had to sew 2 pieces of material together to make a side!

em, do you like my 'quilting techniques'? 

I wasn't sure how to join 2 pieces of tiny fabric together so I just laid one on the other and ran some thread thru them

..em, I rather like the look, don't you?

I'm the kinda girl who's into frayed and unconventional and unorthodox and breaking the rules and all that

so, I apply that to my sewing! (and my life :)

a tailless ridgeback hare?

why ofcourse sir!

still, like the strays and the soldiers - my hares are not perfect - just like real life :)

~ shall have some new hares very, very soon made in UK DPCUs (disruptive pattern combat uniform) - I like my material to be the real deal, so it'll be cams that have done service time

and, by any chance (now what are the chances eh?) if you are a soldier reading this, and have an old set of cams, and send them to me - then I'll make you a free gps sat nav system. Uh, okay, I meant a little drive safe army hare :) and Nowzad will get 2 free ones. Good deal huh?

infact one of my purdy lil hares will be rolling in an Audi R8 very soon! 

just like this one above

yeah, no joke, the wee beastie will be on it's way to Texas soon to grace a beautiful car and be a companion to an even more beautiful lady

and it will totally not agree with anything Magellan says :) cos that's how backseat drivers roll!

the R8 is neat, 

but the car that does it for me is the Trans Am!

yeah, gotta be a '78 Pontiac Firebird! 

black and gold *sigh*

and when I move to Norway, sometime in the future (no rush though, I'm enjoying my now), then I will easily pick one up for my driveway

as Norway apparently has a huge Trans Am appreciation society! yeah, life is good

this is the '76, also real purdy too!

really love the back and gold, look at the gold detailing, gorgeous!

hmmm, can hardly wait, really, really excited 

and it's a 6.6 litre V8 

*swoon*! 

could a car be any musclier?

I'll have my toons blaring, pedal to the metal

...this girl, she rolls to Metallica..

and ofcourse for the days that my Trans Am is in the garage getting it's service and mot, then I will hit the highway with my matte black Maserati Grand Turisimo

such a beautiful car!!!

look at that grill, look at those mags and rims and sleek lines *drool*

last month when I was up in the city visiting my mum (yeah, she lives opposite Edinburgh Castle! really!)

anyway, we were going to my car in George Street, and omg!! omg!! there just over from my car was a matte black Maserati!

well, the truth was I did touch it, and I did drool, but my drool never landed on the car, god forbid! and my heart started to beat fast, my mouth felt dry....

whew! my mum had to drag me away! I so love my sleek sexy cars :)

I'm really loving this one above too, look at that air thingy on it, that's so Hot! it's like a shark gill!! (just a single one :) (one is enough!)

so now that I'm full of Happy and worked myself into a little frenzy of appreciation

I will share a book I wanna read. Because of You by Jessica Scott

Can't remember the path I travelled, must have been the low road, but I found myself on Maryse's Book Blog and on the Military Romance page! ha ha ha

and I'm the type of girl who reads espionage and WWII war stuffs and boys war comic books, not girly romance stuff! sure, I love romance, but my reading time is for action and uber tough handsome psychologically damaged alpha males!

But after reading the synopsis and the free chapters on Amazon, well, I reckon I need to read this book, like pronto!!

It's only available as an eBook for kindle. I don't have a kindle, I like my paper pages, but I see that I can get some free app that will let me read it on my mac, so that's good. 

Yeah, desperate measures call for desperate actions... downloading an app... sheesh!

Though a little foray into the world of alpha males, sweat, muscles, hot love and some heart. Hmmm, I'm thinking that would do me good infact. 

It was written by a soldier too so the feelings will spot on. There is an unwritten code for soldiers, the banter, the humour, the attitude, the confidence, so it will be nice to 'be there again'.

Looking forward to this.

and the cover dude looks welcoming...

though when I was on pinterest the other day (my god! that place is the place of dreams!) I came across this photo above 

and, er,

I was transfixed!

yeah, had to wipe the drool off my keyboard! really.

I tried to locate the source, but it was elusive. So this handsome man shall remain in my dreams as I read that book.

I reckon that photo looks like a shot for a Military Romance book cover infact? what do you think?? 

anyone know who he is?

not that it matters ofcourse, as looking and appreciating is always a nice productive way to spend some time

...I'm happy to drool... *sigh*

...but if you happen to know who he is... and if he's into Metallica and Maseratis and Trans Ams and firey strong wild tomboys then...

and since I was admiring beautiful Military men, I thought I would put this in here too

I reckon this will soon become an iconic photo (if it already is not).

Just look at the mood, the downcast eyes, thick black lashes, aquiline nose, downturned corners of his mouth, brooding persona and the deep draw on the ..er, Marlboro red. 

Gotta be a red eh? all soldiers smoke reds, I used to! way back in the days...

and I shall just leave you with a totally awesome, amazing, superb, breath-taking fantastic clip for the Army, since it's been soldiers thru and thru here

- they are recruiting, full-time, part-time - fancy signing up?

stay safe!
and remember to be Happy :)